Re: [Meditation Society of America] Living in the Now

Are you saying the perception of now is relative to what it is compared to. like a reference point on the shore line to a boat passing down stream? jvmarco

Message 1 of 7
, Oct 25, 2007

Are you saying the perception of now is relative to what it is compared to. like a reference point on the shore line to a boat passing down stream?

jvmarco <jvmarco@...> wrote:

Many express the notion of "living in the now" however, few actually comprehend what that is.

The "now" is the WHEN. I often say that we cannot (Never/Ever) realize WHO we are until we understand WHEN we are.

Most think that "now" implies te perceived present. The truth is that the perceived present is not the "now."

Meditation is a
pathway to "now." Meditation can lead to the letting go of the attachment to perception. Only then can you understand the "now" and WHEN you are.

Keep this simple, irrefutable truth on your refrigerator, ...There is no Present in Time.

The present, or the "now" is beyond time and perception. Sort of a spooky idea for ego, and the you that you think you are. But there is another self (like the small figure depicted above many renditions of the mediating Buddha), that Self is only realized through the understanding of WHEN.

V:)

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medit8ionsociety

... compared to. like a reference point on the shore line to a boat passing down stream? ... Yo Sean and all, This reminded me of this technique on our

Message 2 of 7
, Oct 26, 2007

sean tremblay <bethjams9@...> wrote:

>
> Are you saying the perception of now is relative to what it is

compared to. like a reference point on the shore line to a boat
passing down stream?

>

Yo Sean and all,
This reminded me of this technique on our
website (Meditation Station)http://www.meditationsociety.com
As you'll see, it deals with the boat ride of life.
And one "How-to" for bing here, now.
I hope it is beneficial and enjoyable.
Peace and blessings.
Transcending Karma
Once upon a time, long, long ago, there were 2 holy
men traveling together through the countryside.
They came upon a beautiful young woman sitting and
sobbing by the side of a stream. She said she was
afraid of drowning and asked them if they would help
her cross to the other side of the water. Without
saying a word, one of the monks picked up the girl
and carried her to the other side of the stream where
he gently put her down. She thanked him and went on
her way. The two men then continued their journey.
After a while, the monk said to the one who had carried
the young woman, "How could you do such a thing? We
have taken vows of chastity. It is forbidden to even
talk to a woman let alone touch one." The other monk
lovingly replied, "When I came to the other side of
the stream, I put her down. Why are you still carrying her?"

What have you been carrying around that you should have
put down and left behind? Do you still harbor feelings
of regret, anger, hate, disappointment, or any other
negative adjectives or adverbs that apply, for events,
people, or things that are not here, now? Why do you do
this masochistic activity?

Life can be equated with a boat ride taking you from
one shore to another. As the boat goes across the water,
it leaves a wake in its path. This wake represents your
past. And just like the wake a boat leaves behind doesn't
propel the boat forward at all, your past doesn't drive
you towards the other shore. What's done is done if you
will be done with it. If you don't face the front of the
boat and place your attention in the present moment, you
will not be able to avoid running into the icebergs and
other potential hazards that could jeopardize your trip
through life. Your karma is fulfilled and up to date at
all times. Your clinging to the past and fantasizing about
the future is what keeps you paying a karmic debt. Simply
attend to this moment and witness the path your boat is
traveling. This is action free of reaction and further karma.

Relax. Melt into your most comfortable meditative posture.
Focus on your breath and feel and witness its entry,
retention, and leaving. Let your body establish a comfortable
rhythm. Visualize your great grandparents in your mind's
eye. See them be born, have events take place in their
lives and eventually give birth to your grandparents.
Visualize your grandparents be born, see them have events
take place in their lives and eventually give birth to your
parents. Visualize your parents being born and see them
go through the events in their lives that eventually included
giving birth to you.

As clearly as possible, without reacting physically,
emotionally, or mentally, allow the movie of the events
of your life to unfold on the inner screen of your mind's
eye. Witness the events as unattached as the monk was who
carried the woman over the stream. And just like him,
leave your attachments to all the events that have resulted
in your being here, now. Know that you are now in the boat
ride of your life and that to look back is to reattach to
your ancestors and your own karma and all the suffering that
clings to it. Look ahead free of karma, enjoy the ride,
and live happily ever after.

jvmarco

V: The perceived now is relative. The perceived now is that which is filtered through the physical senses alone (the skandhas). There are higher senses, or

Message 3 of 7
, Oct 26, 2007

V:
The perceived now is relative. The perceived now is that which is
filtered through the physical senses alone (the skandhas). There are
higher senses, or metasensory levels realized through transcendence
that we all have access to. Transcendence is not beyond our ability.

Even Maslow touched on transcendence in his heirarchy therory, yet
only understood after self-actualization.

Here's an interesting quote:

"Transcendence has been discounted by secular psychologists because
they feel it belongs to the domain of religious belief. But Maslow
himself believed that science and religion were both too narrowly
conceived, too dichotomized, and too separated from each other. Non-
peakers, as he would call them, characteristically think in logical,
rational terms and look down on extreme spirituality as "insanity"
(p. 22) because it entails a loss of control and deviation from what
is socially acceptable. They may even try to avoid such experiences
because they are not materially productivethey "earn no money, bake
no bread, and chop no wood" (p. 23). Other non-peakers have the
problem of immaturity in spiritual matters, and hence tend to view
holy rituals and events in their most crude, external form, not
appreciating them for any underlying spiritual implications. Maslow
despised such people because they form a sort of idolatry that
hinders religions (p. 24). This creates a divide in every religion
and social institution. (Maslow. "The 'Core-Religious'
or 'Transcendent,' Experience.")"

You mention shore line...the following (five paragraphs) is from my
book Exploring Freethought Magick:

To understand life context, the analogy of Spanish ships in the New
World is helpful. Supposedly, when the Conquistadors arrived and
greeted a tribe of natives on the beach from their longboats, the
chief asked, "Where did you people come from?" The Spanish replied
that they arrived in those large ships about a hundred meters off
shore. The natives could not see these ships, for they did not
understand how to relate to the idea of ship. After much discussion,
a few began to see the ships because of the odd ripples on the water,
and then the whole tribe saw them.

Some people may snicker at that story, saying, "Oh, those natives
must have been blind." In that case, let me ask this: How many
colors were in the rainbow during biblical times? Seven? No, they
may have only seen one, but surely not more than three.

In Daybreak, Friedrich Nietzsche comments, "How different nature must
have appeared to the Greeks if, as we have to admit, their eyes were
blind to blue and green." Just because you see seven colors, you
should not assume that our ancestors saw seven. Assumptions and
beliefs are the delusions of the phenomenal mind.

In the Iliad, Homer describes the rainbow as having just one color.
However, Xenophanes, the teacher of Parmenides, saw three colors in
the phenomenon of a rainbow: purple, red, and a yellow-green. Later,
in the meteorological treatise Meteorologica, written circa 340 BCE,
Aristotle concurred: "The rainbow has three colors."

Not until the Renaissance did Westerners begin to see seven colors in
the rainbow. However, that does not mean that there are seven colors
in the rainbow. There is compelling evidence that there are actually
nine colors in the rainbow. You're missing two colors, like the New
World natives were missing those Spanish ships. Charles F. Haanel
said, "The mind cannot comprehend an entirely new idea until a
corresponding vibratory brain cell has been prepared to receive it."

compared to. like a reference point on the shore line to a boat
passing down stream?

>
> jvmarco <jvmarco@...> wrote: Many express the notion

of "living in the now" however, few actually

> comprehend what that is.
>
> The "now" is the WHEN. I often say that we cannot (Never/Ever)
> realize WHO we are until we understand WHEN we are.
>
> Most think that "now" implies te perceived present. The truth is
> that the perceived present is not the "now."
>
> Meditation is a pathway to "now." Meditation can lead to the

letting

> go of the attachment to perception. Only then can you understand
> the "now" and WHEN you are.
>
> Keep this simple, irrefutable truth on your refrigerator,...There

is

> no Present in Time.
>
> The present, or the "now" is beyond time and perception. Sort of a
> spooky idea for ego, and the you that you think you are. But there
> is another self (like the small figure depicted above many

renditions

> of the mediating Buddha), that Self is only realized through the
> understanding of WHEN.
>
> V
> :)
>
>
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
> http://mail.yahoo.com
>

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